SELWESKI: Hackel's election foe comes out of the ugly closet

In disarray for several years, the Macomb County Republican Party fielded an embarrassing hodge podge of candidates for the county’s “Big Five” offices in 2008 and again in 2012, but it now appears obvious that the most cringe-worthy choice of all was Randell Shafer, the 2010 GOP nominee who lost in a landslide to Mark Hackel for county executive.

After getting clobbered in two congressional runs against Democratic incumbent Rep. Sander Levin, Shafer emerged as the distinct underdog in that 2010 primary election. He barely waged a campaign for the county’s top post and his only significant public appearance consisted of a rambling, barely coherent speech to the Macomb County Chamber of Commerce.

Yet, Shafer won that primary by nearly a 3-1 margin over the party favorite, Simon Haddad. How could that happen? The consensus view among political observers postulated that Haddad, who is of Middle Eastern descent, was the victim of anti-Arab sentiments among GOP voters.

If so, we now know that the election outcome must have particularly pleased Shafer.

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Last week, in a long series of bizarre and bigoted comments on Facebook, Shafer came out of the closet.

He revealed himself as a tacit defender of Dave Agema, the Michigan representative on the Republican National Committee who has very publicly bashed gays and Muslims on Facebook. Agema also posted the ranting of a white supremacist and even praised the anti-homosexual policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Shafer wandered in, proving to be, in effect, the Dave Agema of Macomb County, offering his own version of ugly homophobic and Muslim-hating commentary. He instantly attracted a backlash from some of his fellow Macomb Republicans.

The result was a wild ride – a back-and-forth of brutish remarks by Shafer and snarky sarcasm by his critics – that morphed into two separate threads, producing about 400 comments over several days.

As much as the content, Shafer’s oafish tone made this Facebook battle a topic of discussion at the state Capitol on the night of the State of the State address. A sample of Shaferisms: “Full of crap … queers … socialists … mental midget … dope … blowhard tub of donkey glue.”

He rejected outright several suggestions that he should apologize: “When radical Muslims and homosexuals hold hands and sway back and forth around a camp fire singing kumbaya...that is when i apologize.”

Shafer, 49, of St. Clair Shores, demonstrated atrocious spelling and bad grammar and unwittingly ratcheted up the ridicule when he wrote: “Go pet your dog and philosophy to it.”

Huh?

His chief antagonist was longtime GOP political consultant Joe Munem, who is of Arabic ancestry but practices the Presbyterian faith. Shafer repeatedly referred to him as “Mohammed Munem” and invented a new birther movement when he insisted that Munem’s Muslim father could not have named him Joseph.

Other conservative Republicans quickly joined the fray, such as anti-tax activist Leon Drolet and Ken Braun, formerly of the Midland-based Mackinac Center. A local minister, Bill Barnwell, peppered Shafer with questions about his intolerant views.

After some time, his critics began to exhibit squeamish empathy for Shafer, who was thoroughly outmatched in this war of words. Some urged him, nearly begged him, to stop -- even Democratic consultant Joe DiSano suggested he call it quits.

But Shafer was in a deep, dark hole and he kept on digging.

Facebook outsiders looked on, stunned – a group of online rubber-neckers who couldn’t help but take a long glance at the carnage. Some chimed in, chagrined that Macomb County politics seemed even more crude and coarse than they had assumed.

When it was all over, here was the bottom line: It is clear that Shafer never would have won that 2010 primary if his true self was on display at the time. Imagine what Macomb’s red-faced GOP primary voters are now thinking as they look back to that ’10 election and try to remember why they cast their ballot for Shafer.

Of course, that’s assuming the county’s Republican electorate has had their fill of clownish candidates. In the Big Five races of 2008 and again in 2012, the unopposed GOP primary candidate for county prosecutor was a part-time lawyer whose hobby was producing bizarre drawings, including many depicting his vision of Plutonians, if there was life on Pluto.

In both election cycles, the lone Republican contender for county treasurer was a perennial candidate who had committed several financial transgressions in the past, among them repeatedly failing to pay his taxes on time.

And in 2012, the GOP nominee for county clerk, a wide-ranging position that includes overseeing elections, had a nasty habit of not voting in numerous prior elections.

Shafer, too, has a skeleton in his closet that’s not widely known. He did not retire from the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive complex in Warren, he was fired. According to a document produced by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, Shafer in 2004 and 2006 was found in violation of a law that prevents federal employees from campaigning for a partisan office or receiving campaign contributions in the process.

After his second series of violations in ’06, Shafer was dismissed from his job because he “willfully and repeatedly violated the Hatch Act.”

Macomb County voters deserve better than this. They deserve a competitive election for Macomb’s leadership positions. They deserve a real choice.

The new Republican Party chairman, Rob Montilla, has four months until the filing deadline to assemble a solid lineup for the Big Five seats and for county executive.

He’ll need to recruit the best he can find, GOP standard-bearers of experience and integrity. Candidates with nothing to hide. And he has to hope that Randell Shafer does not rear his ugly head again.